


pera pera perao (smooth talking)

by bonjourmarlene



Series: Songfics [3]
Category: Little Mix (Band)
Genre: F/F, Open Ending, Song fic, based on a jpop song
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-27
Updated: 2016-05-27
Packaged: 2018-07-10 12:53:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6985954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bonjourmarlene/pseuds/bonjourmarlene
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jade is embarrassingly smitten by the new barista in her usual coffee shop.</p>
            </blockquote>





	pera pera perao (smooth talking)

Jade’s fingers hovered over the keyboards of her laptop and she bit her lip, trying to think of what she could be pretending she was writing this time. She had actually become quite good at it over the past few weeks. It wasn’t like she was wanted to be an author or anything – she actually enjoyed being a primary teacher and wouldn’t want to change anything but she had to admit, her little stories became better bit by bit since she had started writing them.

The reason why she had started was, actually, quite pathetic, she thought to herself. The café where she usually got her cappuccino every day before morning had hired a new waitress slash barista that was just too pretty to ignore.

So Jade had started bringing her laptop once a week at first to be able to sit at her table for longer – she always chose the one that wasn’t too far away from the counter bar so she could see the blonde girl whenever she wasn’t in the staff room.

Once a week had turned to two times a week, two times turned into three and now she was here almost every day.

The most pathetic thing, though, was that she had not uttered a _single_ word towards the beautiful woman (whose name tag read Perrie, which was an interestingly unusual name especially for girls and made Jade even more intrigued) that didn’t have to do with orders. It hadn’t happened often but a few times the blonde had actually served her and Jade had struggled to say a single word.

The first time, she remembered and her cheeks turned a crimson shade of red, she had been silent for so long that the girl had asked, “Are you mute?” She sounded embarrassed by asking and quickly added, “Do you want to write down your order? Or do you have a special barista?”

“No, uh, sorry,” Jade had choked out and coughed into her hand before continuing, “something was stuck in my throat, excuse me. Um, can I have a Café Latte?” She asked and cursed herself because she _always_ had a freaking cappuccino so what on earth had made her ask for a fricking Café Latte?

She had been too embarrassed to correct herself and swallowed the drink down quickly, leaving the coffee shop sooner than she usually did.

“Would you like a refill?” A voice snapped her out of her thoughts and Jade looked up to see it was Perrie, the beautiful barista that always ensured she was at a loss of words. Why on earth did she have to be so awkward around her?

Jade nodded her head and smiled, “Yes, thanks.” A heavy load of relief flooded through her as she noticed her voice sounded relatively normal.

“Sorry if this is weird but you come here every day and I wondered what your name is? If it is okay of me to ask.” She pointed at the name tag that was stuck to her light blue uniform top above her left breast. “My name is Perrie, by the way.”

“I know,” Jade smiled and wanted to slap herself for saying it right the moment the words left her mouth. “I mean, I read your name tag before. My name is Jade.”

“Nice to meet you, Jade.”

“Nice to meet you, Perrie,” she replied and suddenly there was a huge lump in her throat and they just stared at each other for a few seconds before the blonde nodded,

“Right, I’ll get your coffee. Would you like a Café Latte again?”

Jade blinked a few times, shocked by the fact that she had remembered her order. “Um, okay, thanks.”

Perrie smiled and took the empty coffee cup off the table.

God, Jade _hated_ the taste of Café Latte with a passion but she didn’t have the heart to say no to Perrie when she had obviously tried to remember her order – it was endearing how much she seemed to care about her customers and made Jade’s heart flutter.

Her crush on this girl was pretty ridiculous, if you took into consideration that this was the first time they had ever really talked and _of course_ Jade had been awkward and barely said anything. Perrie was being nice, trying to have a conversation with a customer. She was probably bored and Jade was being awkward and not saying anything. When Perrie came back, Jade told herself, she would say something.

And really, when the blonde came back with a new cup of Café Latte, Jade indeed opened her mouth and said, “They said on TV this morning that it would be raining but it seems to be quite sunny outside, doesn’t it?”

Perrie blinked her eyes a few times before smiling a smile that seemed actually genuine and again Jade’s heart gave a tiny flutter. “Yeah, it seems to be quite nice.”

It was quiet for another while before the blonde shifted her weight and then spoke once more, “Is that all? If you need anything else, I will be behind the counter – let me know if you need a refill or a snack or something.”

“Thanks a million,” Jade smiled and cursed herself internally. She watched as the blonde walked away, the movement of her legs soft and tender just as the rest of her body.

Weather forecast? She spoke about the damn _weather forecast_!? Seriously, was there anything more boring than small talk about the weather?

Again, she gulped down her Café Latte and left sooner than usual.

***

“Where are you going?” Leigh asked and frowned when she saw her roommate in her shoes and parka.

“Grabbing some coffee.”

“Oh, cool, can I come with?”

Jade fidgeted for a few moments but then nodded her head. It probably wouldn’t do any harm if for once she didn’t show up completely on her own like a sore loser without any friends. Not that going to a coffee shop alone was sad – she enjoyed solitude and liked going out on her own from time to time. But she couldn’t deny the weird glances people gave her when she turned up alone in a restaurant and sat down at a table for two by herself (because which restaurant really had a table for one).

“Can you go and order and I’ll get us a table?” She asked once they arrived at the coffee shop and Jade realised in all her nervousness about bringing Leigh here, she had forgotten to bring her laptop. Well, less questions from her flatmate then. She didn’t know Jade had started writing (because it was more of a cover than a real thing) and she didn’t feel the need to explain it right now.

“Sure. Cappuccino?”

“You know me too well,” Jade laughed and nodded before sitting down at her usual table. The coffee shop wasn’t really unpopular so it surprised her loads that her table was free most of time. Of course it had happened that she was forced to sit on another table but most of the time it was free.

“So this is your daily coffee shop that makes you leave the house twenty minutes earlier before work?” Leigh asked her when she sat back down Jade’s cappuccino and her own hot chocolate (she had never been much of a coffee person). “Is the cappuccino worth it getting up earlier?”

“I need my caffeine,” Jade replied without really answering the questions. Perrie didn’t have a morning shift often but on the days where Jade spotted her early in here (her eyes seemingly still sleepy and her movements slower than usual) it was definitely worth it getting up earlier only to see her. God, she was ridiculous.

“Sorry, Ma’am, you forgot your wallet at the counter.” Standing behind Leigh with Leigh’s purse in her hand was Perrie, the blonde waitress that Jade admired so much. Perrie’s eyes went past Leigh and widened for a second as she spotted Jade sitting there before plastering on a perfectly polite smile. “Oh, hello!”

“Hey,” Jade replied shyly and cursed herself internally. Maybe she was speaking too friendly with Perrie, maybe the blonde didn’t like how impolite and improper Jade greeted her. Maybe she should have gone with a normal ‘Hello’ as well instead of just throwing out a random ‘hey.’ Or maybe she should have been more polite and said good morning.

Leigh looked between them for a moment before thanking Perrie and accepting her wallet back. “It was very kind of you to give it back to me.”

“Oh, no problem, you’re welcome.” Her eyes flickered back to Jade even though she was talking to Leigh and then she smiled again. “If there is anything you guys need, let me know! I’ll be around somewhere here.” She pointed towards the counter where her colleague, a guy with messy brown hair and a girl with thick brunette curls were currently serving customers. As Jade knew by now (as she spent pretty much all her live savings on this coffee shop) the other two baristas were called Jesy and Jake.

“Thanks,” Jade smiled and then shut her mouth promptly. God, she was terribly awkward.

Slowly, Perrie backed off and walked away back to the counter where Leigh’s eyes followed her before the black woman turned her attention back to her roommate. “So, what’s going on between you and her?”

“Eh!?” Jade asked and felt her face turn brightly red. Was it just her who felt insanely hot now? “What do you mean?”

“Why didn’t you tell me about her? She seems cute. But why was she so shy? Have you not told her about me yet?” Leigh-Anne was bombarding her friend with questions that made it seem like Jade and Perrie were already going steady.

Jade lifted her arm, her hand a fist except for her index finger pointing upwards – this was the signal she usually used in her class to signal the children to be quiet for now and surprisingly it seemed to work with adults just as fine, seeing as Leigh-Anne shut her mouth immediately and raise one of her brows questioningly. “Of course I haven’t told her anything about you because we’re nothing. Like, not even friends. All I know is that her name is Perrie and all she knows about me is that my name is Jade. We haven’t exchanged any other information.” She watched as Leigh’s eyes flickered to the side to the counter and then smiled before addressing Jade without really reacting to anything that has just been said,

“Well, either way, she was just staring at us and quickly looked away when I looked at her.”

“I would think that two people were talking about me as well when I just walked up to their table and then left again. A lot of conversations are based on events that just happened – she must be thinking we’re talking about her.”

“We are,” the black haired female replied and took a sip of her drink, licking the small bit of foam off her lips when she set the cup back down on the little saucer. For a few moments it was quiet and then she started laughing quietly before saying, “You two are terrible at hiding it, though. That you’re dying to talk to each other.”

Jade blinked a few times and felt her cheeks redden terribly, causing her to hide her face behind her hands and shaking her head violently. “God, shut up. It’s pathetic. I don’t know anything about her so it makes literally _no sense_ that I feel so attracted to her.”

Leigh laughed again and chanced another glance at the blonde, who seemed to be wiping a cup without really paying attention to what she was doing. For a moment before Leigh-Anne looked back at Jade, their eyes met and Leigh couldn’t help but grin, feeling confirmed in her theory that Jade’s infatuation wasn’t one-sided at all. “Well, now I know it’s not the caffeine you come here for every day – I’ll be on my way now, got stuff to do. I’ll leave you be with your darling.”

Jade reached her hand out, grabbing Leigh-Anne around her wrist and looking at her with a fearful expression. “Please, don’t. It’ll look weird if you come here with me and I’ll stay all by myself.”

The older girl sighed and looked at Jade for a few moments before nodding her head. “Alright. But promise you’ll come back tomorrow and start talking to her properly.”

For a moment there was a flicker of relief on Jade’s face and she nodded her head eagerly, linking her arm with Leigh-Anne’s before they left the coffee shop together – Jade was already thinking desperately of what she could say tomorrow to beautiful Perrie to keep her promise.

***

The next morning, much to Jade’s surprise and delight, Perrie had a morning shift as the brunette was on her way to work. She had left the house earlier than usual, Leigh-Anne urging her to spend as much time as possible at the coffee shop so they could finally have a conversation.

“Good morning,” Perrie said politely but there was a change in the way she addressed Jade. It was still as polite as ever, but less cheerful and Jade wondered if she was distancing herself, wanting to maintain a worker-customer relationship. Maybe she had heard some of the things she and Leigh-Anne had talked about the day before.

God, Jade was already embarrassed and felt her cheeks heat up. “Good morning to you, too. Sorry, I left so abruptly yesterday.”

Perrie’s smile was friendly but didn’t even come close to the one she offered Jade when they had been talking about the fricking weather. “Oh, don’t worry. Your girlfriend obviously wanted to leave quickly. Honestly, I didn’t expect you to show up today.”

For a few moments Jade blinked surprised and was glad it was so early because it meant there was no queue behind her and she didn’t have to hurry up with her talk to Perrie. “Girlfriend? Leigh-Anne isn’t my girlfriend, she’s just my friend.”

Another couple of seconds of silence passed as Perrie seemed to understand the words and she gave out a small laugh, “Oh, sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed. It just looked like the two of you were on a date – because she made you blush and laugh and you ended up leaving holding hands.”

“I would barely call that holding hands,” Jade laughed and the smile she got from Perrie this time seemed more relaxed, setting a bunch of butterflies loose in her stomach. “She made fun of me, that’s why I blushed. And I left with her hand in hand because she wanted to leave me here and I felt it would look awkward if I ended up alone at my seat again. I already started feeling really awkward about being on my own all the time.”

“Oh,” was all the blonde barista explained. “I – God, this is so embarrassing. I think I read too much into it. I, well, uh, I thought you two were on a date and then I kept staring at you when I handed your friend the wallet – and because I thought you were on a date or something and then I did the staring thing, for which I am incredibly sorry, I thought she got angry at you and wanted to leave you; because you also looked so sad when she was about to leave. And I thought she was sort-of breaking up with you and I felt terrible. I told myself that if you even come here today I’d make sure everything between you is still fine. Which I totally forgot to ask, God, I’m sorry.”

Jade laughed and the butterflies in her stomach slowly turned into monkeys, jumping around and banging against her insides. “She did notice the staring part.”

Perrie’s cheeks turned brightly red and she covered her face, looking down at the floor. “This is so awkward, gosh, I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean, it’s just, you’re always here and I’m curious and we never talk but you’re really pretty? And I’m sorry, I should stop talking.”

Jade licked her lips but her mouth had gone completely dry by now – no matter how much she told herself to calm down now because she could be reading too much into this situation she couldn’t come up with anything that could explain Perrie’s words other than _she’s into you as well_.

“It’s ‘cause I’m awkward,” she tried to say and watched as Perrie’s head snapped up and looked at her in confusion. “I always want to say something but I never know what – I don’t want to sound boring or dull.”

It took a few moments for Perrie to register the spoken words and then her face slowly brightened up and Jade watched as each feature of her face started literally glowing towards her. “I bet you’re not boring at all. Um, how about I make your drink and then, I don’t know, would you mind if I had a coffee with you?”

“Not at all,” Jade breathed out and grinned. “But, um, I need to leave for work at half past.”

Perrie looked back at the big clock that was hanging from one of the walls – the clock’s longer finger was threateningly close to the big number six that would indicate it was half past. “Oh, bummer.”

“When are you free today?”

Perrie’s face brightened up even more if that was possible and she replied happily, “I’m free after five today.”

Jade grinned. “Perfect. Tell you what, I’ll give you my phone number and you can send me a text or give me a call, whatever you like, and I’ll take you out for dinner tonight, if that’s cool with you.”

“I’m already looking forward to it,” Perrie replied quietly as she watched Jade scribble down an eleven-digit long phone number on one of the café’s napkins. “See you tonight?”

“See you tonight,” Jade replied happily and leaned over the counter quickly, pressing her lips against Perrie’s cheeks before running out of the shop. Even when Jade wasn’t visible through the glass doors of the coffee shop anymore, Perrie could still feel the lingering touch of Jade’s lips against her skin.  

 

**Author's Note:**

> The ending allows a lot of different possibilities but as this song was based on a song where there is no finished ending either I wanted to leave it at that - however Jade and Perrie's date and possible relationship turns out afterwards is up to you! I hope you enjoyed this short read.   
> The song this is based upon is called ペラペラペラオ which is read as Pera Pera Perao and means something like "smooth talking." It is by a Jpop group called Not Yet and the lyrics can be found here: http://stage48.net/studio48/peraperaperao.html


End file.
